A Consultant Beyond Compare

‘But you told Alex that you were out of work now.’ Jessica shook her head, so that her glossy brown curls danced in the afternoon sunlight. ‘You can’t give up on being a doctor. It isn’t right. Just because things went wrong for you back home. I don’t care what anybody says, I know you, and I know you couldn’t have done anything wrong. You’re always so careful, so good in everything that you do. Everyone knows that…Mum says that’s why they haven’t put anything bad in your work record.’ She looked at Katie. ‘They haven’t, have they?’

Katie bent her head a fraction, so that her chestnut curls momentarily fell across her cheek, covering her features. ‘That may be so, but I still don’t feel that I can work in A and E.’ She frowned, her blue eyes clouding. ‘I was getting on all right at the rehab centre. I liked working with the staff there, and it was good to know that I was helping people to get back on their feet after they were incapacitated.’

Jessica put her arms around her in a fleeting hug. ‘I’m sorry it came to an end. You’ll have to tell me what happened. But even so, it seems all wrong to me that you were working there in the first place. You used to love being in Emergency. You went through all that training, and it was all you ever wanted to do, remember? Now that I’m here, you can go back to it, can’t you? And things will be easier for you because I’ll be here to tidy up and make the meals, and just as soon as I find a job I’ll be able to help out with the finances.’

Katie smiled. Oh, for youthful innocence. Her sister made it all sound so simple. All she had to do was go after what she wanted and things would turn out fine. It was a lovely thought, and if only that was the way things worked she would be more than happy…but there was more to it than that, wasn’t there?

Her confidence had been badly shaken, and all her hopes and dreams had crumbled about her. Life would never be quite the same ever again.

‘We should head back to my cottage,’ Katie said, pulling open her car door. ‘You can tell me what went wrong at home and why you decided to come all the way out here.’

Jessica pulled a face as she settled herself in the passenger seat. ‘Do I have to? I’d much rather talk about you and Alex and the job at his hospital.’ She rolled her eyes in a dramatic gesture. ‘When he’s not trying to take charge of me he’s really something, isn’t he? I bet the girls back home would think he was gorgeous.’

Katie threw her a look from under her lashes. ‘That may be so, but we aren’t going to see him again, so perhaps we should try to forget about him. We’ll concentrate on you from now on.’

It was a brave attempt at self-protection on Katie’s part—easier to forget about it and move on. Those all-seeing, grey-blue eyes were imprinted on her mind, though, and the promise that glimmered within them would haunt her for some time to come.

‘Oh, phooey.’ Jessica rolled her eyes. ‘He’s a dream-boat, and you’re such a spoilsport. How can you not want to talk about him?’

CHAPTER THREE

‘SO, THIS is your place?’ Jessica’s grey eyes widened as she gazed at the L-shaped, stone-built cottage in front of her. ‘I never imagined that you would buy anything like this. It’s lovely, really quaint, and so different from our place back home.’

Katie nodded, looking up at the gabled roofs that were at angles to one another. ‘I think that’s because it’s so open here—everything around is green and peaceful, and there aren’t that many houses dotted about. You only have to look out of the bedroom window and you can see crags and fells for miles around. Mind you, once we get inside you might feel differently about it. It’s quite poky, and there’s still a lot that I have to do to make the place feel comfortable.’

Katie started to unlock the front door, but Jessica hung back, lightly touching the silky, pale mauve petals of the wisteria that covered the front wall. ‘This is beautiful,’ she murmured, breathing in the sweet fragrance.

‘Yes, you’re right, it is.’ Katie paused to share the moment with her sister. ‘I ought to stop more often and take time to appreciate what I have.’ The truth was, lately all she had thought about was how much work there was to do, and how wild and overgrown the garden had become. She gave a half-smile. Having her sister here with her was already making a difference to her outlook on things.

‘Come through to the kitchen and I’ll make us some tea.’ She glanced at Jessica. ‘You’d better put your hold-all down. It looks heavy. You must have brought everything with you bar the kitchen sink.’

Jessica gave an awkward laugh. ‘I packed as much as I could manage.’ She looked up at Katie, biting down on her lower lip.

‘I know it must be awkward for you, with me turning up here like this, out of the blue, but I didn’t know what else to do. I couldn’t stay at home, not after the way Dad’s temper took off. He locked me out of the house, and it was all because I was a few minutes late getting in. I went and spent the night round at my friend’s house, but I knew I had to get away. I couldn’t stand it any more, and all I could think of was that you might take me in.’

Jessica was silent for a moment, deep in thought. ‘You know how he is, and I’m sure that’s why you left home as soon as you could manage it. It was bad enough when you went off to medical school, but at least that was close by and you were able to come home for a few days every week. Then when you started on your house officer jobs at different hospitals, I thought I was going to lose you.’

Katie gave her sister a hug. ‘Has it been so bad? I’m sorry if you felt that I was leaving you behind. You know I was always there for you, just a short car ride away. I kept in touch and came to see you as often as I could.’

‘Yes, and that was good, but now you’ve moved up here to the Lake District, and it isn’t as though you could just drop by every weekend, is it? I just didn’t think I could go on this way any longer. Dad’s always going on at me about something or other. He says I’m scatterbrained and I’ll always be troublesome.’

‘Have you tried talking to Mum about how you feel?’

‘What would be the point in doing that?’ Jessica made a hopeless gesture with her hands. ‘Mum never listens, and she certainly never takes my side. She just says, “Oh, I can’t cope with the two of you arguing all the time. You’re making my head hurt.” She always seems as though everything’s too much for her and I think she’ll be better off with me out of the way.’

‘You know that’s not true. She loves you.’ Even so, Katie had to acknowledge that her mother had never coped well with any form of stress, and it wasn’t hard for her to imagine what Jessica was going through.

She washed her hands at the sink and started to prepare a light meal for the two of them, but all the time she was busy turning over all the options in her mind. It was a difficult situation, but she couldn’t help feeling that her sister needed a breathing space, time to gather up her defences and allow her to face up to the world once more.

‘You can stay here for a few days at least,’ she told her, ‘maybe even a couple of weeks, while we work out what we’re going to do. I’ll do what I can to square things with Mum and Dad.’

She knew it wasn’t quite what Jessica had been hoping for, but the girl nodded and gave her a relieved smile. ‘Thanks, Katie. I’ll show you how good I can be, and then perhaps you’ll let me stay for longer.’ Her gaze was pleading and Katie hugged her once more.

‘We’ll see,’ she said. ‘I’ll show you where the second bedroom is and, if you like, you can put your things away in there while I finish making supper.’

An hour or so later, they were sitting down to eat at the kitchen table when the doorbell rang. Katie frowned. ‘I can’t think who that would be,’ she murmured, getting to her feet. ‘You go on with your meal,’ she told Jessica, who stood up as though to go with her.

‘It wouldn’t be Mum or Dad, would it?’ Jessica’s expression was apprehensive. ‘You said they agreed to let me stay when they rang back earlier. Do you think they might have changed their minds?’

‘I don’t know, but if it is them, I’ll sort it out, don’t worry.’

When she opened the front door, though, she was startled to see the man who was standing in her porch. He was gazing around at the old stonework and casting a glance over the rough stone wall that edged the property.

‘Alex?’ She stared at him. ‘What are you doing here? How did you find me?’ He had changed out of the business suit and now he was wearing casual clothes, dark trousers and a jacket that was open to reveal a cool cotton shirt in a shade of blue-grey that matched his eyes. She dragged her gaze away from his rangy body and looked up at him once more, trying to cover her discomfiture.

‘I asked Jessica for your address when we were at the café. I wanted to make sure that I was making a safe handover.’

Katie frowned. ‘Is that why you’re here? Do you think I might be mistreating her in some way?’ Even the thought that he might doubt her in some way was enough to bring an affronted glare to her blue eyes.

His mouth twisted in the semblance of a smile. ‘Are you always this touchy?’ He looked her over as though she might give him a resounding agreement to that statement, and her eyes narrowed on him.

‘Not usually.’ She sighed and stood back, waving him into the cramped hallway. ‘I’m having a bad day.’ Running a hand through the tangle of her long, chestnut curls, she indicated the far door, which led into the kitchen. ‘Come in, won’t you? I apologise for my bad manners. I’m really not myself today.’

‘Thanks.’ He stepped inside the house and looked around, taking in the low ceiling and the narrow passageway. Katie hoped he hadn’t noticed the spot in the far corner where the paint was peeling from the wall. Through a doorway to one side of the hall the living room was visible, and it was possible to glimpse from there the overgrown garden through the French doors. ‘This is cosy,’ he murmured. ‘Have you lived here for long?’

‘Um…a couple of months. I’m still decorating and trying to make the place my own, but I’ve been busy and I’ve had to make choices about where to start.’

He nodded. ‘I guess it isn’t easy when you’re working.’ He gave her a sideways glance. ‘Though by all accounts that won’t be much of a problem from now on, will it?’

Katie gave a shrug. ‘I’ve already had a quick skim through the job vacancy columns in the newspaper. Apparently they need someone in the rehab unit at the local hospital. That would be a start, I suppose.’

‘But it would also be a complete waste of your talents. You’re a doctor. You should be using the medical skills you acquired after all those years of training.’

Perhaps he had a point there, but Katie wasn’t in the mood to be judged and found wanting. She stiffened. ‘I don’t see why that should concern you.’ She pushed open the kitchen door and ushered him through.

Jessica was sitting at the table at the far end of the room, her fork poised in her hand, but she laid it down on her plate and blinked as Alex walked into the room.

‘Alex?’ Her face lit up in a shy smile. ‘You found me? I didn’t think we would see you again so soon.’

‘No, it is sooner than expected, I must agree with you there. I’m glad that you seem to have settled back in here without too much upset.’ He sent a quick glance around the room. ‘It’s homely in here, very clean and cheerful.’

Katie had placed a bowl of roses on the worktop, and she had set out groups of fine glassware and ceramics at intervals on shelves around the room. It wasn’t much, but it made the difference between what might have been purely a functional kitchen and what she considered to be the heart of the home. What had he been expecting, something austere and unwelcoming?

She sent him a dark, cynical glance. ‘See? She’s perfectly well. I haven’t locked her in a cupboard or banished her to bed without so much as a bowl of gruel, if that’s what you were thinking.’ Her mouth made a derisive slant. ‘Are you satisfied now that you’ve seen for yourself that she’s all right?’

He turned, his grey-blue gaze homing in on her. ‘Actually, that isn’t the reason I’m here.’

‘Oh.’ Katie swallowed hard. Perhaps riling him wasn’t such a good idea after all. He had done nothing but help out today, and she was beginning to sound like an ungrateful harridan. That wasn’t at all like her, and she couldn’t for an instant fathom why he should be having this effect on her. Perhaps this awful day was beginning to get to her. She said slowly, ‘It wasn’t?’

He shook his head and reached inside his jacket pocket. ‘When I cleared up the equipment after we had helped the man by the roadside, I must have accidentally scooped up your notebooks. I found this when I restocked my medical bag. There are some addresses and phone numbers in there, and I thought perhaps you might need it.’ He handed over the small leather case.

‘Oh, I…uh…Thank you.’ Katie tried to accept it with good grace. ‘It must have dropped out of my bag when I was looking for my phone. I thought I had put everything back.’ He was wrong-footing her at every turn, and she found herself wishing for all the world that she could rewind the day and start over again. Maybe she would do things differently, given the chance.

She flicked through the pages of the small notebook. ‘I’m so glad that you brought this back to me. I would have been lost without it.’

‘You’re welcome.’ He nodded to Jessica and then turned, as though he was getting ready to leave, causing Jessica to raise her brows behind his back and gesticulate wildly to Katie as though she was wrong to let him escape. When Katie didn’t react, Jessica shook her head, and obviously thought she was a hopeless case.

Katie frowned. Then, just in time, she recovered herself and said quickly, ‘Do you have to go right now? I think Jess would be glad of the chance to talk to you for a while, and there’s some tea in the pot. You could help yourself to some supper, too, if you like. There’s plenty left.’ She drifted a hand over the tabletop. ‘I made too much pizza, and there’s plenty of salad, if you would like some. Please, sit down and help yourself. I expect you’ve been too busy these last few hours to think about food.’

He seemed to hesitate, but only for a moment. ‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘I must say it’s been a while since I’ve eaten, and this does look good.’ He pulled out a chair and sat down, then frowned at the triangular segments of the pizza. ‘Did you really make this yourself?’

Did he have to doubt everything about her? Katie bit back a withering retort and managed to send him a sweet smile instead. ‘Yes, I did. It isn’t all that difficult, you know.’

He bit off a corner section, savouring the combined flavours of melted cheese, tomato and herbs, and gave her a quizzical look in return. Perhaps he had decided to ignore the underlying thread of sarcasm in her voice, because he concentrated instead on finishing off his food while parrying questions from Jessica.

He circumvented the more personal queries, but answered others. She wanted to know what exactly he did at the hospital, and what his meeting would have been about if he had managed to get to it in time.

‘I’m in charge of the A and E department at South Lake,’ he told her. ‘I started off there as a registrar, but now I’ve moved up the ladder and I’m a consultant. I’d like to progress even further, and perhaps take charge of a bigger unit, but that all depends on how I get on in this post. I have to go to lots of meetings so that I can keep in touch with what’s going on in other hospitals in the area.’

Jessica was enthralled and, considering that she had been his reluctant detainee earlier, that said something about the man’s charisma.

Katie poured tea and handed him a cup. ‘How is the man we found at the side of the road doing? Have they managed to stabilise his condition?’ She chose her words carefully, because she didn’t want to upset Jessica in any way, and perhaps he realised that, as he answered in a fairly guarded manner.

‘When I left, they were taking him along to Intensive Care. They found the source of his internal injuries and he went to Theatre to have that put right. It’s going to be a question of time now more than anything. Time for him to heal, and for the swelling around his brain to ease.’

Katie’s gaze was troubled. It didn’t sound too good, but at least she felt that they had done all they could for the man. ‘I dread to think what would have happened if we had just driven past him. It’s all because of Jessica that we stopped to investigate in the first place.’

He nodded. ‘You did really well,’ he said, giving the young girl an encouraging smile. It was a smile that lit up his face and gave Katie a glimpse of features that she had not noticed before now. His mouth was perfectly formed, she saw, his teeth were straight and gleaming like pearls, and his eyes were pure heaven, filled with dancing lights that would have sparked any woman’s dreams to flame.

She brought herself back to reality with a jerk. What was she thinking? How could she allow herself to even contemplate falling for any man, let alone this one? He was nothing if not sceptical of her, and here she was, slipping into a well of elusive imaginings about him. What was wrong with her? Emotions, especially those between men and women, from her experience, were fragile things, as light and insubstantial as mist. Trust in them and you could be hurt. She had to get a grip.

‘I have to go,’ he said, wiping his fingers on a paper serviette and unfolding himself from his chair. ‘It’s getting late and there’s still a lot I have to do before morning.’ He said goodbye to Jessica, who beamed him a smile in return.

‘I’ll see you out,’ Katie murmured. Her pulses were pounding and she had a fight on her hands to bring them under control. This was madness. She didn’t even like the man. She didn’t know him, for heaven’s sake, so why on earth was she getting herself into a fever over him?

‘Thanks for the supper. It was delicious, and exactly what I needed.’

‘It was the least I could do. Thank you for returning my notebook.’

They walked out into the hallway and he stopped at the door and looked directly into her eyes. ‘Will you reconsider coming to work with me?’

She shook her head. ‘No…I’m sorry, but I can’t. I need a break from medicine. It’s too frantic, too harrowing. I don’t want to go there.’

He looked at her oddly. ‘I think you’re making a big mistake. Whatever it was that made you doubt yourself, you need to get back in there. Face up to your demons and stop them from getting the upper hand.’

‘I don’t have any demons. I just need a change.’ What did he know about it? Facing up to the traumas of the past was much easier said than done, wasn’t it? She saw him to the door. ‘Goodbye, Alex,’ she murmured.

‘Goodbye?’ He gave her a slight smile. ‘We’ll see.’ He inclined his head to her and then went out of the door, walking briskly along the path to where he had parked his car at the roadside.

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